Ford Fiesta ST

Overview

The Fiesta ST isn't as badass as the die-hard Ford Focus RS, but that makes it all the more lovable, er, fun. Its manual-only gearbox is approachable, its suspension is lively but not harsh, and it's actually thrifty on gas—if you care about that. It's powered by a 197-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder that drives the front wheels through a six-speed transmission. While the Fiesta ST is extremely affordable entertainment, its cut-rate interior and cramped back seat carry over from the even cheaper and less exciting Fiesta. Still, this pint-sized performance hatchback is a back-to-basics option that rewards drivers of all skill levels.

Highs: Fun for any driving-skill level, thrifty fuel economy, high performance-per-dollar ratio.
Lows: More horsepower would be welcome, limited back-seat legroom, nonexistent driver-assist tech.
Verdict: An affordable, pint-sized performance party that provides more smiles per minute than most.

What's New for 2019?

While we're thankful that Ford saw fit to keep selling the Fiesta ST for another model year rather than ending production, it only prolonged the inevitable. The entire Fiesta range will no longer be built after May 2019. Meanwhile, the current generation of the feisty little hatchback carries over for 2019 without change.

Ford Fiesta ST Pricing and Which One to Buy

Fiesta ST: $22,215

The Fiesta ST is cheaper than esteemed rivals such as the Honda Civic Si coupe and the Volkswagen Golf GTI. That makes the Ford one of the best performance bargains money can buy. Even outfitted with every option, the Fiesta ST stays well under $30,000. Its available accessories include metallic Orange Spice or White Platinum paint colors, black 17-inch wheels and red brake calipers, heated Recaro seats, power sunroof, and navigation. We'd add the dark wheels because they look cool and the heavily bolstered Recaro buckets for their extra support (we suggest trying them out first, since they're too restrictive for some). The rest of the options are unnecessary, especially since standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto replace the need for navigation.

Engine, Transmission, and Performance

The Fiesta ST might singlehandedly save the manuals. A six-speed row-your-own gearbox is the only available transmission and pairs with a zesty, turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder. The miniature mill makes 197 horsepower and 202 lb-ft of torque, which helped spur it from zero to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds in our testing; it feels peppy but still lags behind higher-powered rivals at the drag strip. Thankfully, its easy-shifting six-speed stick matched our spirited enthusiasm. The light clutch has a short travel and long engagement range that made ripping through the gears effortless. The ST's exhaust doesn't growl or howl, but it emits enough noise to alert everyone it's no ordinary bargain box.

The Fiesta ST is a performance party where everyone's invited—and the cover charge is cheap. Its forgiving chassis and seamlessly shifting manual transmission allow amateur drivers to flourish and wily vets to test their limits. Its exuberant handling easily makes up for its shortfall in straight-line speed. Thrashing the ST around twisty two-lanes, deserted parking lots, and backwater byways is endlessly enjoyable. Surprisingly, comfort isn't compromised by the firm suspension. Integral to the Ford's playful feel is wonderfully direct steering. The brake pedal is light but responsive and doesn't punish overeager inputs with neck-snapping feedback.

Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG

The Fiesta ST and most of its rivals are exceedingly fuel efficient, offering more thrills than refills. The Ford floats near the top of the EPA ratings and had the highest real-world highway figure in our testing. It completed our 200-mile highway test loop with flying colors, clocking 38 mpg to beat its EPA estimate by 5 mpg.

Without the optional Recaro seats and the ST badging, the interior could be confused for the boring cabin of the standard Fiesta. The ST's exceptional value and road-loving personality make that flaw easier to excuse, but its limited back-seat legroom and small number of options are harder to forgive. The mostly plastic interior at least appeared to be carefully assembled, with consistent fits. The distance between the driver, dash, and the low shifter was slightly awkward, but not inconveniently so. The standard ambient lighting with seven customizable colors is a nifty feature in the otherwise drab cabin.

Ford's Sync 3 infotainment system is as user friendly as the rest of the Fiesta ST. It sports a smallish 6.5-inch touchscreen but nonetheless works well. The menu and optional settings aren't as robust as in more upscale Ford products, but the high-mounted display is a welcome addition to the barren interior. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and an eight-speaker Sony stereo with a six-month subscription for SiriusXM satellite radio are all standard.

Despite being one size down here, the ST is competitive with bigger rivals. Those looking for an optimal hauling companion will find better suitors—but at a higher price. The Ford's cargo volume of 25 cubic feet with the rear seats folded is barely more than the Golf GTI's 23 cubes with the rear seats up—but the ST held only one less carry-on bag.

Safety and Driver-Assistance Features

The Fiesta ST will not impress parents with babies or people who want the latest driver-assistance technology. The hatchback also earned a four-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) but was not named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Can its fun factor fill the void left by the absence of safety features? We think so. But some buyers might prefer rivals that do offer such equipment.

Warranty and Maintenance Coverage

Apart from its above-average roadside assistance (five years or 60,000 miles), the Fiesta ST has the same coverage as most rivals. The Hyundai Elantra steals the show with its impressive powertrain warranty of 10 years or 100,000 miles.

Get the Best Deal on a Ford Fiesta ST

2017 Ford Fiesta ST

Here's hoping the party continues.

Recent News

Next year, the Ford Fiesta ST, one of our favorite hot hatchbacks, undergoes a redesign and surgery to remove one of the four cylinders from its engine. Early indications are that this change isn’t reductive: The three-cylinder, 2018 Fiesta ST still will pack the same 197 horsepower as today’s four-cylinder model. Gauging the side effects of the operation must wait until we drive the new car—that is, provided Ford decides to sell it in the United States.

So far, the new ST and its updated Fiesta siblings are confirmed only for European markets. It could be sent here. There’s also a chance we could see a repeat of the disappointing strategy Ford employed on the original Focus, meaning we’d get only a refresh of the current, aging Fiesta while the rest of the world enjoys improved designs. Or we could get no Fiesta and no ST, period. Ford isn’t yet saying. The current Fiesta ST is too good a car to be killed off quietly or to see its life cycle extended long enough to become “old,” and this test of a 2017 model is a clear reminder of why this one-time 10Best-awarded hot hatch deserves a follow-up.

Quite Literally a Party

What makes the Fiesta ST so great? The way the engine, chassis, and lightweight body combine to form a wonderfully balanced performance envelope. There is just enough handling for the power at hand . . . or just enough power for the handling, depending on your point of view. The turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four has precisely the perfect amount of beans. Its 197 horsepower adds a Fiesta-sized drizzle of accelerative thrills without overwhelming the front-drive ST’s drivability the way the larger Focus ST’s 252-hp engine does.

Torque steer is minimal, and any tugs attempting to make their way through the steering column are mostly quelled by a brake-based, digital imitation of a limited-slip differential. (We’d love to see a mechanical limited-slip added to the next-generation Fiesta ST, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.) If the new ST can match this car’s sprightly 6.9-second rip to 60 mph, great-feeling six-speed shifter, and rorty engine note, we’ll be good.

Ditto the ST’s lowered, firmer suspension relative to regular Fiestas. This setup is capable of incredible grip when paired with the standard Bridgestone Potenza summer tires. We recorded 0.93 g, which places the Fiesta solidly in sports-car territory. Bemoan the Ford’s front-wheel drive all you want, but its grip is slightly better than the rear-drive Mazda MX-5 Miata’s (which, incidentally, rides on similar Bridgestone rubber). The Ford behaves differently, of course, preferring aggressive late braking into corners to swing its unpowered rear axle wide and to tighten its line. The handling is eminently predictable, the steering quick and communicative. Like the Miata, this is a car with which you could easily use to teach a newbie how to drive quickly.

It’s Not Perfect, Just Close

Just don’t have that novice try to change a radio station using the standard Sync 3 touchscreen. The screen and menus themselves are fine, but they’re mounted so far away from the driver that touching the display is difficult. The reach belies the underlying Fiesta platform’s age: In non-ST form, the car originally wasn’t offered with a touchscreen, meaning Sync 3 is slapped into a high-mounted cove on the dashboard that once held a nontouch display. Another oddity? No backup camera is even offered, not that it’s totally necessary, since the tiny Fiesta is easy to maneuver.

Other interior foibles include weirdly grained plastic on the door panels that’s rough to the touch, chintzy-looking gauges, and minimal cubbies to stash stuff. On one hand, this is an inexpensive car. On the other, these are all easy fixes, and it would appear as though Ford handled most if not all of them with the new Fiesta. If your body fits in the optional $1995 heated Recaro sport seats, they are worth it for the extra bolstering they provide. The upgraded chairs lock front-seat occupants in place, but to some they feel confining and are slightly too big for the Fiesta’s tight cabin. The 10-cubic-foot cargo hold is twice as commodious as what’s available in the Miata and can be expanded by folding the rear seats flat.

Daily Goodness

Commuting duty is no problem, thanks to the livable ride quality and relatively quiet cabin. In fact, if you’re in a hurry, the Fiesta ST is one of the best cars for dicing through plodding traffic during rush hour. Its small size allows it to squirt into gaps between cars, and the immediacy with which it changes direction makes darting into those holes a snap. A useful swell of torque is always a buttery downshift and a mashed accelerator away. Simply aim anywhere between 2500 and 4000 rpm to tap into the turbocharger’s overboost function that increases peak boost (and thus power) in that range.

Best of all, the Fiesta ST is affordable to buy and run. We beat the snot out of our Fiesta for two weeks and recorded 25 mpg; separately, on our 75-mph, 200-mile highway fuel-economy loop, it notched 38 mpg. To its $22,015 base price, our test car added $795 navigation, the aforementioned Recaro seats, $375 black-painted wheels, and $595 Orange Spice metallic paint. The total damage came to just $25,775. Unlike many cheap speed machines, the Fiesta ST wears a tastefully subtle body kit and, in its less extroverted hues, is generally incognito compared with the peacocking Mini Cooper S, Hyundai Veloster Turbo, and Honda’s latest Civic Si.

Having not yet driven the new ST, we can at least say Ford carried over the current model’s restrained look to great effect. As for the rest of it, we hope the suspension and steering bits are just as sweet as the current car’s and that the newfangled turbo triple is as tractable as today’s turbo four. Because if Ford decides to sell three-cylinder 2018 Fiesta STs in American dealerships next year, its updates had better not be malpractice.